Switcheroo
by Eleven Eleven
Summary: Val and Caitie switch places during an unlucky Friday 13th.


A/N. OK, OK, I know this is an extremely typical storyline, and it's probably been used somewhere before in this category. Blame it on the movie and book, Freaky Friday! I really don't understand my sources of inspiration these days, so if you inquire about them, I'm sorry to say, you won't get a satisfactory answer! Let's just say, Cherry Girl got an extremely mild case of concussion and this subsequently did something to her brain, and this therefore explains her stories! Anyway, back to the main point, which is, I'm sorry if you don't like this extremely typical storyline. It just wedged itself into my head and wouldn't leave! It then intrigued me and before I knew it, I was typing the damn story! So here it is. Btw, I never fully read the book or fully watched the movie. Bits' n' pieces, that's my style!  
  
Dedicated to supergirl, who is an absolute sweetie. This is a small thank- you for your consistent support and motivation.  
  
I thank MM for beta reading this.  
  
Disclaimer- Nothing is mine unless you don't recognise it.  
Switcheroo  
Little Clay Figures  
  
Val Lanier threw her hands up with a flourish as the cheerleading squad finished a short routine. Beaming, she set down her pompons and reached for the bottle of water at her feet. All around her, her fellow cheerleaders were taking a short breather, as they readied themselves for almost an hour more of practice.  
  
Val's eyes wandered over to the group of football players, gathered in a huddle and obviously discussing some sort of team tactic. One of them seemed to sense that they were being watched, and he lifted his head. The blues eyes connected, and Val blushed, quickly looking away before she slid her gaze over again. Tyler Connell smiled at the blonde before he got pulled back into the discussion.  
  
Val bit her lip, trying to stop her smile from growing any wider. 'Idiot!' she thought to herself. Still, she couldn't but help wonder if Tyler felt the same way about her. And if so, why hadn't things moved on from there? As her best friend had once said, why hadn't he asked her out yet?  
  
At the thought of her best friend, Val's eyes darkened as she turned to the set of bleachers, where she could make out faint shadows beneath them. No doubt, it was Caitie Roth and her set of nonconformist friends. Val never understood why Caitie preferred to hang in the dim and dark with people who either lived to break the rules and protest against society, or lived because it was something to do. It was hard to believe the two were best friends and had known each other since birth. They were as different as day and night.  
  
Shrugging slightly to herself, she tossed the water bottle back onto the ground and picked up her set of pompons.  
  
"OK, let's do this!"  
  
The cheerleaders assembled themselves into a formation and launched into a cheer.  
  
* * *  
  
As the sound of female voices encouraging school spirit reached Caitie's ears, she closed her eyes as if pained to hear them.  
  
"You OK?" a voice reached her.  
  
Opening her eyes, she was met by a pair of brown ones, peering at her concernedly.  
  
"James, they're doing it again, and I can hear them!"  
  
Jamie Waite laughed and turned to the row of cheerleaders on the oval. Caitie inched her way forward slowly, as if afraid of a deadly pompon flying towards her.  
  
"Look at them! Like perfectly trained Barbie dolls!"  
  
"It's tragic, isn't it?"  
  
"Tell me about it."  
  
Brianne, a fellow bleacher junkie, looked up from where she had been assembling a figure out of clay and eyed Caitie.  
  
"What about your friend? That blonde girl. She's a trained Barbie too?"  
  
Caitie avoided her friend's eye and stared out towards the cheerleaders.  
  
"Val is just...Val."  
  
Brianne snorted and set the figure down, reaching for more clay from her bag. Caitie could see that her artistic friend had sculpted a perfect little model of a cheerleader. It almost looked like Val.  
  
"I don't understand why you're even friends with her, Caitie. You're so different to her. I mean, shouldn't friends have some common ground?"  
  
"They both hate ketchup," Jamie swung himself from the rungs of the bleachers.  
  
"That's your common ground? And you've been friends with her, for how long?" Brianne stopped poking the wad of clay in her hand and stared at the Gothic girl.  
  
Caitie shrugged in answer, not looking at anyone in particular. For some weird reason, discussing her friendship with Val Lanier in the midst of her 'group' made her feel uncomfortable. She looked up at Jamie, swinging from the many rungs that made up the underside of the bleachers, and successfully found a way to divert the conversation.  
  
"You know, you shouldn't walk under ladders on Friday 13th. Do you think that applies to hanging under here?"  
  
Jamie smiled and managed to shrug from his hanging position.  
  
"Who knows?"  
  
The young artist set her second figure of clay down next to the first one, peering up at the sophomore.  
  
"Who believes that superstitious crap anyhow? I mean, the worst thing that could happen right now, is the whole framework of the bleachers caving in on us, which I highly doubt will happen."  
  
Brianne rolled her eyes as if to prove her point, while Caitie snuck a surreptitious glance at the rungs, checking for any signs of rickety framework. Jamie caught his best friend's worried glance and laughed out loud, swinging his way to the ground.  
  
"Don't worry, Caitie. Nothing bad, see?"  
  
"Think again," Brianne suddenly bent over, absorbing herself in the clay figures and avoiding the eye of the approaching vice principal.  
  
"Jamie," came the less than pleasant voice. "Can I see you in my office?"  
  
"What'd I do?" Jamie gave the authoritative man an indignant stare.  
  
"Now," came the firm reply, before Carlson walked away.  
  
"What'd you do this time?" Caitie looked up curiously, wondering of her friend's crime.  
  
"Nothing!"  
  
"You'd better go, before he comes back and decides to give us all detention for no apparent reason," Brianne swept back a chunk of her hair.  
  
"Doesn't he always?" Caitie snorted, watching her friend depart.  
  
* * *  
  
"...and win!"  
  
The cheerleaders held their poses for a second before dropping their arms, relaxing before the next set of gruelling routines. Val stretched her legs idly, glancing around her surroundings as she did so. Mr. Carlson was walking away from the set of bleachers and as Val looked on, a figure emerged from the shadows, following the vice principal with a less-than- hurried pace, a big scowl etched over his features. Val sighed slightly as she recognized the young man to be Jamie, her co-worker and the other best friend of her own best friend.  
  
Jamie was another one of those people that Val didn't completely understand and probably never would. He was somewhat a rebel without a cause, too cool for school and seeing anyone with authority to be an arch nemesis.  
  
Val turned to look at the football players, now in the middle of a game, searching for the blue-eyed junior who had caught her gaze before.  
  
Watching as her 'back-up' best friend slowly disappeared from view, towards the school and VP Carlson's office, Caitie slowly turned back to face the other person still underneath the bleachers. Brianne, however, was now thoroughly occupied with her work, not even sensing her friend's thoughtful gaze upon her, as her nimble fingers shaped the clay in her hands, her head bent in concentration. Caitie sighed softly, turning her gaze onto the happenings of the large football field before her. She muffled a snigger as she caught Val obviously searching for a particular player amongst the bunch of idiots running after the football.  
  
Somewhere, far off in the distance, or so it seemed, a bell rang, signalling the end of the lunch period. Caitie shook back her hair and marched off, Brianne following her, brushing the dust from her bag. On the grassy field, the football players reluctantly broke up the game, tossing the ball back and forth between each other, as they ran off, jogging towards the locker rooms. Cheerleaders mingled with them left and right, talking excitedly as they left for their next class.  
  
* * *  
  
Underneath the bleachers, the afternoon sun poked its way through the cracks and slants of the bleacher rungs, filling the usually dark place with a dull glow. Two clay figures stood where their artist had left them, resolute and still amongst the pebbles and stones. One was tall, leggy and immaculate looking, the perfect mouth open in mid-cheer. The other was petite and delicate, two carefully crafted plaits on either side of her head. The sun moved slowly over the two figures, hardening the clay, casting its hot rays upon the little dolls. Two different people, two different personalities, Val and Caitie, Caitie and Val...  
  
A/N. How was that? Of course, we all know what's gonna happen.  
  
OK, this must be the millionth time I'm mentioning this, but, watch out for a new series by MM, rainshower and myself. If you ever wanted to know what happened after Time's Up, here's your chance! Brand new stories for a virtual season two!  
  
The reason I keep bringing it up is because we need people to take interest. Sorry if it bugs you. 


End file.
